From: januarybaybee@gmail.com   
      
   CNN Updated 3:02 PM ET, Thu August 13, 2020   
      
      
   Judge orders Trump campaign to produce evidence of voter fraud in Pennsylvania   
      
   (CNN) A federal judge in Pennsylvania told the Trump campaign and the   
   Republican Party that they must produce evidence they have of vote-by-mail   
   fraud in the state by Friday.   
      
   The judge's order, in a high-profile case about vote-by-mail in the   
   battleground state, essentially forces the Trump campaign to try to back up   
   President Donald Trump's false claims about massive voter fraud in postal   
   voting.   
      
   "The Court finds that instances of voter fraud are relevant to the claims and   
   defenses in this case," District Judge J. Nicholas Ranjan wrote on Thursday,   
   telling Republicans that they need to provide evidence of fraud to the   
   Democratic Party and the    
   Sierra Club, which are part of the lawsuit.   
      
   The Democrats had asked for information and documents that would show steps   
   the Republicans took to study the possibility of fraud, especially related to   
   the use of dropboxes, ballot collection and mailed-in ballots in the primary   
   elections.   
      
   The Trump campaign and Republicans had refused to do so. But with Thursday's   
   court order, they must answer questions from the Democratic groups and turn   
   over records of communications -- or say they have none. The Trump campaign   
   has until Friday to    
   respond, the judge said.   
      
   Pennsylvania Democrats wrote to the court Wednesday. The Democrats have called   
   the Trump lawsuit an attempt to stoke fears about unproven fraud related to   
   mail-in voting in the battleground state.   
      
   The Trump campaign "should not be permitted to raise such spectacular fraud   
   related claims, particular in this national climate," lawyers representing the   
   Democrats wrote.   
      
   The Democrats have called the Trump lawsuit an attempt to stoke fears about   
   unproven fraud related to mail-in voting in the battleground state. Trump has   
   repeatedly claimed there is massive voter fraud -- something that CNN's   
   fact-checking team has    
   repeatedly debunked. Legal scholars from both parties, and nonpartisan   
   experts, acknowledge that there is no widespread fraud in US elections.   
      
   The case is one of the boldest attempts by the Trump campaign in court to   
   curtail mail-in voting in the 2020 election. The Trump campaign had claimed   
   mail-in voting could prompt questions about the accuracy of election results   
   "and ultimately chaos,"    
   according to the court record.   
      
   Ranjan, the judge overseeing the suit, was appointed by Trump.   
      
   A hearing about the evidence is set for late September.   
      
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